Will Twitter be the death of the PVR?

CEO Costolo talks about how tweeting is bringing back live TV

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The CEO of Twitter Dick Costolo used Mobile World Congress 2011 to explain why he believes Twitter is bringing scheduled television back to life, announcing that live tweeting shows is making people ditch their PVRs.

In his speech he noted: "What we are seeing in the world of television is that people are starting to watch all sorts of television in real-time again. The PVR is getting taken out of the equation.

"As more and more people started using PVRs, this was lost. But it is being brought back again through Twitter."

Twitter TV

Costolo name checked a number of shows that are using Twitter, including our very own X Factor, noting: "There are game shows in the UK, like X Factor, that have Twitter hosts – this is how big it is.

"When the show Glee is on in the US, the moment the show starts, the tweet per minute about that show go up 30 times. And they stay there for the hour until the moment the show ends."

While people are talking about the future of TV bein interactive, Costolo believes this is already happening.

"Interactive TV is here today. "We create this on our devices with Twitter. It already exists.

"Howard Stern started tweeting about Private Parts when it was on in the afternoon in the US without prompting and got a massive audience for it, as he was talking about what was happening behind the scenes.